A high-growth, Private Equity-backed Professional Services business is seeking an ambitious and commercially minded Head of Finance to take ownership of the finance function and play a pivotal role in the next phase of the Group’s growth.
The business currently generates approximately £100m of turnover and £30m of EBITDA and has established an impressive track record of 20–30% year-on-year growth, driven through a combination of organic expansion and a highly active M&A strategy.
With a clear ambition to continue scaling the platform and ultimately deliver an exit within the next three years, this represents an excellent opportunity for a finance leader looking to take genuine ownership of a function while developing towards a future Finance Director position.
Reporting directly to an experienced, PE-backed CFO, the successful individual will benefit from significant exposure to the investment process, board-level decision making, M&A and value creation. The CFO will act as a mentor, with a clear intention to support the successful candidate’s progression into the Finance Director role.
The Role:
The Head of Finance will have end-to-end ownership of the Group finance function, combining strong technical and reporting capability with commercial FP&A, business partnering and strategic input.
This is not simply a reporting or controllership position. The successful candidate will be expected to operate as a key member of the leadership team, providing insight and challenge to the wider business and helping shape decisions that support continued growth and value creation.
Key responsibilities will include:
- Owning the finance function end-to-end, covering financial reporting, management accounts, statutory accounts, audit, controls and compliance.
- Leading the FP&A agenda, including budgeting, forecasting, scenario modelling and performance analysis.
- Providing high-quality commercial insight and partnering with senior stakeholders across the business.
- Supporting the CFO and leadership team with strategic decision making, investment cases and business planning.
- Supporting the Group’s ongoing M&A strategy, including acquisition analysis, due diligence, integration and post-acquisition performance.
- Helping to professionalise and scale the finance infrastructure as the business continues to grow.
- Reviewing and improving the existing ERP and wider finance technology landscape, ensuring systems and processes are fit for a significantly larger organisation.
- Driving improvements in financial controls, processes, reporting and data quality.
- Identifying opportunities to introduce greater automation and efficiency across the finance function.
- Working with the CFO to explore and implement AI-enabled solutions within finance, improving reporting, analysis, forecasting and transactional efficiency.
- Developing and leading the finance team, with responsibility for building capability as the organisation scales.
- Supporting the CFO with Board, investor and PE-related reporting and analysis.
- Acting as a trusted commercial partner to the wider leadership team.
The Requirements:
The successful candidate will be a professionally qualified accountant with a strong blend of technical finance, reporting and FP&A experience.
Given the breadth of the role, the business is particularly interested in individuals who have operated in Professional Services, Technology or SaaS environments, ideally within a Private Equity-backed or similarly high-growth organisation.
The ideal profile will demonstrate:
- ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent professional qualification.
- Strong technical accounting, financial reporting and controls experience.
- Proven FP&A, forecasting, budgeting and commercial business partnering capability.
- Experience operating in a high-growth, acquisitive or transformation environment.
- Exposure to Private Equity and an understanding of the pace, reporting requirements and value creation agenda associated with PE ownership.
- Experience supporting M&A activity would be highly advantageous.
- Experience improving or implementing ERP systems and/or broader finance technology.
- A genuine interest in automation, AI and the future development of finance functions.
- Leadership experience, even where this has been limited to a small team of one or two people, is highly advantageous.
- The ability to operate both strategically and hands-on — someone who is comfortable setting the direction but is equally prepared to get into the detail when required.
Most importantly, this individual will be ambitious, commercially minded and intellectually curious, with the credibility to work alongside an established CFO and the wider leadership team.
Why This Opportunity?
This is an opportunity to join a business at a particularly exciting stage of its development.
The successful candidate will inherit a broad remit, genuine ownership of finance and significant exposure to the CFO, Board and Private Equity investor. With the Group targeting continued 20–30% growth and an exit within approximately three years, the role offers an excellent platform for someone who wants to develop from Head of Finance into a Finance Director-level position.
The business is looking for someone who wants to build something, not simply maintain an existing finance function.